Surgical drains are used to drain fluids from a wound after surgery. Such drains generally comprise a tube having perforations in a wall of the tube. The perforated tube is placed in the wound to be drained, generally for a period of four to seven days. The tube is generally connected to a vacuum chamber or Vacuutainer (a device used to take blood samples) to help drain the wound. If the fluid being drained is blood, there may clotting around or blockage of the perforations in the tube, thereby limiting the drainage therethrough.
Also, when the drainage stops, it is sometimes difficult to determine whether the drain is blocked by clotted blood or excess tissue, or whether the site has stopped oozing. Therefore, a drain is needed which enables clots and excess tissue to be removed from the perforations and the inside (lumen) of the perforated tube.